1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a pencil sharpener, and more particularly to an electric pencil sharpener.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional electric pencil sharpener includes a housing 1 having a partition 101, a cutting device 2 disposed in the housing 1, and a driving device 3 disposed in the housing 1. The driving device 2 includes a carrier 201 connected rotatably to the partition 101, a ring gear 202 disposed on the partition 101, and a threaded cutter 203 disposed pivotally to the carrier 201. The threaded cutter 203 has a planetary gear portion 204 meshing with the ring gear 202. The driving device 3 includes a driving motor 301, a small gear 302 disposed on an output shaft of the driving motor 301, and a large gear 303 disposed on a rear end of the carrier 201 and behind the partition 101. Upon insertion of a pencil (not shown) into the carrier 201, the driving motor 301 is operated to rotate the carrier 201. Hence, the threaded cutter 203 is rotated about the rotating axis thereof and the center of the ring gear 202 to thereby cut the pencil.
However, since the rear end of the carrier 201 is connected to the large gear 202 at a position located behind the partition 101, it is difficult to remove the cutting device 2 from the housing 1. As a result, when the threaded cutter 203 becomes blunt, the cutting device 2 cannot be removed by the user for replacement of the threaded cutter 203, thereby resulting in inconvenience during use of the conventional electric pencil sharpener.